Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says 2 friends were killed in Louisville mass shooting

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said two of his close friends were among at least four victims killed in a mass shooting at a bank in downtown Louisville on Monday morning.

Giving emotional remarks at a news conference after the shooting, Beshear told reporters that another friend was hospitalized with injuries sustained in the attack. At least seven other people were wounded, according to the Louisville Metro Police Department.

“This is awful,” Beshear said at the news conference. “I have a very close friend that didn’t make it today, and I have another close friend that didn’t either and one who’s at the hospital that I hope is going to make it through.”

Authoirties have not yet identified any of the victims.

“So when we talk about praying, I hope people will for those that we are hoping can make it through the surgeries that they are going through. And then we’ve got to do what we have done these last three years after everything, we’ve got to wrap our arms around these families,” the governor continued, adding, “Our bodies and our minds are not meant to go through these types of tragedies.”

CBS News contacted Beshear’s office for additional information but did not receive an immediate response.

In addition to the victims, the suspected shooter also died on Monday, authorities said. Louisville Deputy Police Chief Paul Humphrey told reporters that it was unclear if the gunman died while exchanging gunfire with responding officers or from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The shooter has not been publicly identified, but Humphrey said it appeared that the individual once worked at the bank where the attack happened. At least two police officers were shot while exchanging gunfire with the suspected shooter, according to Humphrey, who said that one of the officers was hospitalized in critical condition and undergoing surgery. 

One other person was also in critical condition at the hospital, according to the deputy police chief.